U.S. soldier hurt by gunfire in Iraq, first since training began

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - A U.S. soldier on overnight
guard duty at a base in Iraq was wounded this week when an
attacker opened fire at his position, the first direct-fire
casualty since U.S. forces began a mission to train Iraqi troops
last year, the Pentagon said on Friday.

The soldier was cut on the nose by a bullet or a ricochet
while looking over a concrete barricade trying to locate the
source of a light observed by a fellow soldier in a guard tower,
said Army Colonel Steve Warren, a Pentagon spokesman.

The shot resulted in an exchange of gunfire. There were no
other injuries. The soldier was treated at the site following
the incident and carried on with the guard duty, Warren said.

The incident took place about 3 a.m. on March 11 at the
Iraqi base at Besmaya, one of several sites where U.S. troops
are training Iraqi security forces. Warren said about 100
military trainers were working at Besmaya, guarded by an
additional force of U.S. soldiers.

Warren said the solder was the first U.S. service member
wounded in direct-fire incident at an Iraqi base since American
forces began training security forces last year to help them in
their fight against Islamic State rebels.

The bases have occasionally come under direct or indirect
fire, but the attacks have largely been ineffective.

Five members of the U.S.-led coalition have been killed in
operations against Islamic State so far, military officials
said.

Two U.S. Marines died in accidents and a U.S. Air Force
pilot was killed in a plane crash in Jordan. A Jordanian pilot
was captured and burned to death by rebels and a Canadian
special forces soldier was killed in a friendly fire incident.

Three Canadian soldiers also were wounded in the friendly
fire incident in Iraq earlier this month.
(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)